Finding success with an innovative, eco-responsible product endorsed by the hyper-regulated aerospace industry is harder than it looks. For two years, Limz has been touting the merits of its Aeroclean ecological degreaser cleaner to major contractors and subcontractors in all directions. Bad luck: the industry seems to have its head elsewhere these days, laments Toby Gauld, CEO of the SME.
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“Several companies from here and elsewhere are familiar with our degreaser cleaner and have shown interest. But there is no desire to make in-depth changes to replace the more corrosive products currently used. Our innovation takes longer to get adopted. We are looking for ball carriers. »
Our goal is to see our product integrated into the maintenance manuals of aerospace companies. That would be our home run. The more small businesses we have that adopt our product, the more ambassadors we will have.
Toby Gauld, CEO of SME Limz
The issue of the hour
The current issue in aerospace, says the businessman, is mainly based on decarbonization. Fuels are therefore at the heart of everyone’s concerns, he summarizes. Before the pandemic, the aviation sector accounted for about 2% of global carbon emissions, according to AeroMontréal.
For the organization that represents the Montreal sector, the aerospace industry wants to accelerate the decarbonization of its sector on a global scale. Concretely, compared to 2005, it wants to reduce CO emissions by 50%2 by 2029.
Toby Gauld is aware of this: getting a new product adopted in the daily activities of a company takes time, money and a lot of resources. However, since the labor shortage is still rife, companies have no choice but to review their priorities, however eco-responsible they may be.
However, Aeroclean, Limz’s flagship product, has it all. This degreaser cleaner replaces, among other things, the sodium hydroxide (or caustic soda) contained in the products currently used by the aerospace industry. And it is just as effective, if not more so, according to the SME.
This biodegradable product, explains Toby Gauld, is used in particular to clean hardened carbon on engine parts and to remove surface rust. It is used through soaking baths or in the form of a vaporizer. It works on ferrous and non-ferrous surfaces.
The Aeroclean has been tested and certified by the Center de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ). It is recognized by the OECD and has been approved by Transport Canada. “It is safe for the skin,” says the CEO. The use of this product goes beyond the aeronautical sector. The possibilities are therefore endless. »
Growth in sight
Limz has representatives in the United States, where they are also trying to promote their product. Aeroclean is produced in the laboratories of a Quebec subcontractor. Ultimately, if it makes a breakthrough at Uncle Sam, or even in Europe and Asia, the Quebec SME will have its product manufactured there, because exporting liquid costs a fortune, recalls Toby Gauld.
Limz started in 2020 because Mr. Gauld was looking for an eco-friendly solution for his other company, Optima Aéro, which buys entire helicopters and refurbishes them with the help of subcontractors. He therefore teamed up with the couple Émile Arseneault and Nicole Michaud, who invented Aeroclean, but also an eco-responsible deoxidizer.
A French company in the chemical sector is very interested in Limz these days. She would also like to buy the Quebec SME. “We could do it, but it would be an admission of failure. We still give ourselves time to make our product known,” says the business manager.